Rural COVID surge worries Mukul

SHILLONG, June 2: Leader of the Opposition, Mukul Sangma, has expressed concern over the rising cases of COVID-19 in the state’s rural areas and called for the assessment of the situation in every village.
After reviewing the COVID-19 preparedness in Shillong Civil Hospital, he told reporters on Wednesday that although the COVID-19 curve in the second wave seems to be slowly flattening yet the situation in rural areas is still a cause of concern.
A large number of the cases in the state are being reported from far-flung areas.
Stating that people are reluctant to get tested, he said the situation in the rural pockets may be gauged by activating the disease surveillance system.
He expressed concern over the high COVID-19 death rate and said a lot of patients have died within 24 hours to four days of being brought to the hospital.
“It means the patients are being brought only after the progression of the disease has taken a substantial toll on them,” Mukul, who is a qualified physician, said.
Apprehending that the deaths can be due to lack of institutionalised quarantine centers, corona care centres and home isolation strategy, he called upon the government to ramp up vaccination and technical manpower for dealing with cases in the ICUs, etc.
Stating that the preparation to tackle the pandemic is still happening in the state, he said the whole preparation should be done keeping in mind the possible third wave of the pandemic.
Asking the government to prepare well before the third wave strikes, Mukul asked the Centre and the state government to provide free-of-cost ‘universal vaccination’ to all citizens, including children, and take cognizance of the shortage of vaccines in the state.